Yama dogs

(Article on Daena’s dogs stored elsewhere.)

The H cognate of the dogs appears in the funerary incantation:

अति॑ द्रव सारमे॒यौ श्वानौ॑
चतुर॒क्षौ श॒बलौ॑ सा॒धुना॑ प॒था ।
अथा॑ पि॒तॄन् सु॑वि॒दत्राँ॒ उपे॑हि
य॒मेन॒ ये स॑ध॒मादं॒ मद॑न्ति ॥

Speed past the two dogs, sons of saramA, four-eyed and brownish yellow, along the good path. Then approach the benevolent ancestors who are in joyful revelry together with yama.

यौ ते॒ श्वानौ॑ यम-रक्षि॒तारौ॑
चतुर॒क्षौ प॑थि॒रक्षी॑ नृ॒चक्ष॑सौ ।
ताभ्या॑म् एनं॒ परि॑ देहि राजन्
स्व॒स्ति चा॑स्मा अनमी॒वं च॑ धेहि ॥

Your two dogs, o yama, who are the four-eyed guardians of the path looking upon men, to them deliver him, o king, and give him weal and a disease-free existence.

उ॒रू॒ण॒साव॑सु॒तृपा॑ उदुम्ब॒लौ य॒मस्य॑ दू॒तौ च॑रतो॒ जनाँ॒ अनु॑ । ताव॒स्मभ्यं॑ दृ॒शये॒ सूर्या॑य॒ पुन॑र्दाता॒मसु॑म॒द्येह भ॒द्रम् ॥

The 2 broad-nosed, life-stealing, reddish-yellow agents of yama, track down the folks. May these two [dogs] grant an auspicious life again here today to us, to keep seeing the sun.

One notable point is their description as being four-eyed – a duplication within a duplication. Their duality expressed in the ancient mantra is captured in both the yavana & Iranic iconography. The former further hints an internal duplication in showing them as 2 eyed.